Double Helix: Twin Divide
by Andrea13 and PersephoneKore
Summary: Second in the series. Nathan continues work on his mission by recruiting an unlikely ally... and Stryfe is not pleased. Complete.
1. Default Chapter

_Disclaimer: This is a work of fanfiction based on properties of Marvel Comics; no undue claim is made and no material profit is intended or expected. This is the second story in the Double Helix series and will make more sense if you read "Twin Destinies" first._

**Double Helix: Twin Divide  
by Andrea and Persephone_Kore  
Chapter 1/2**

"Be. _Careful._" 

"Believe me, I'm planning on it!"

Nate stared at the time machine. He did not, as it happened, have any difficulty believing that he was finally -- after several years of preparation -- about to step back into the 20th century for the first time. He was slightly relieved, of course -- there were some Askani who had recently begun making noises to the effect that it would be nice to continue to have _both_ Chosen Ones around. Their being able to accept two had been an advantage at first -- the same teleporter that had dropped Stryfe in _their_ laps after the climactic battle with Apocalypse had sent Nathan to the High Lord's deserted library, where he'd lived for ten years before seeking out the Sisterhood to claim their help as the child they had saved. The Askani'Son they'd been making from the Prince had been... a little disconcerted, had even feared being discarded.

It had been a good thing indeed that the Askani had been willing to view them both as worthy of assistance, and not so wasteful as to throw the one they'd been teaching away. They had been most helpful once Nathan had persuaded them that a timeline modified in the way Apocalypse had once intended, before he lost sight of his better goals in the dazzle of conquest and the blur of years, would be a worthwhile neighbor. His gratitude, however, wasn't such that he was eager for them to decide to try to keep him _here_ and _now_ instead.

Granted, at least this time, he would be coming back.

He hoped.

His words were so fervent partly because of the portion of the plan he'd kept hidden from his twin.

Stryfe kept his frown hidden. As the time for Nathan's departure drew closer, his twin had become more and more absorbed in his preparations, to the exclusion of Stryfe himself. Granted, Stryfe wasn't exactly lying around idle. He was occupied with his own mission, and frankly didn't have the _time_ to spend helping Nate with every aspect of his trip to the 20th century. But...every now and then, he fiercely missed the closeness from when they'd first repaired the link.

Now, quite frankly, he was just hoping that a sudden separation of several centuries wouldn't destroy the link entirely.

"You know if you need anything--"

"I know just where to go," Nate finished for him, smiling slightly. 

"Any time." Stryfe's expression wavered slightly as he heard his own words, then steadied. "And I mean that." #Nate, I mean it, be careful.#

#And I mean it, I will.# Nathan reached across the link warmly. #Clingy for somebody who didn't even want me here at first, aren't you?# As Stryfe hadn't. 

#No, I'm just not particularly fond of having the link broken _again_ by you doing something idiotic and getting yourself killed. And don't give me that innocent look, big brother. I know you.#

#I will do the very best I can not to get myself killed. This is just the first mission, after all.# He grinned mischievously. #Information, lay of the land, maybe recruit a few allies.# He hoped. #I'll be back, little brother.# A pause. #And if the timeslide itself does the link any harm -- we'll fix it.#

#We will.# Stryfe offered his hand, which Nate grasped firmly. "G'journey, Nathan." ~Be safe. Come back.~

Nate nodded and began to loosen his grip and turn to the machine -- then turned back and pulled his twin into a tight embrace. #I love you, little brother. Thank you for reminding me what family meant again.#

#Thank you for showing me what it meant in the first place,# Stryfe answered, clutching at his brother and not caring about the required dignity of the Chosen One. #I love you.#

They both felt better after that, even once they let go. Nate turned resolutely to the chamber, vowed to heaven and earth and fire and anything else that might hear promises made in the depths of the heart that he _would_ come back, and stepped inside. "Timeslide...by one."

*****

There's a moment between sleep and wakefulness, a timeless moment where thoughts come freely and not quite connected. Floating in that timeless moment, En Sabah Nur felt the irritation of something -- some_one_ -- watching him. Although he'd been sleeping for nearly a century, the feeling was the same as if he'd just lain down for a short nap. There was a reason he'd gone to sleep... a reason he was waking up now....

...And why was there a young man sitting there staring at him?

This was what Nate hadn't been telling his brother -- what he'd danced aside from saying directly with his talk of possibly recruiting allies. He had found evidence that his arrival in the time period might -- should, in fact -- disrupt the hibernation systems. If he intended to fulfill Apocalypse's mission _correctly_, he could not be working at cross-purposes to him. He needed En Sabah Nur's cooperation.

Failing that -- and he suspected this would not be an easy persuasion -- he needed to kill him.

"Greetings, En Sabah Nur." His head felt the tiniest bit out of balance -- the disrupted link -- and his throat was dry with anxiety and anticipation, but his voice was admirably steady and pleasant. "I am Nathan Dayspring, and I come to speak with you." 

That did not entirely answer Apocalypse's question about his presence. Nur, fully awake now but with no significantly better explanation for this intruder's presence, emerged fully from his hibernation chamber. "Why -- and how did you penetrate my defenses thus far?" 

"I came to speak with you."

"You have already said that, and it does not answer my questions," Nur rumbled threateningly.

"I come in peace, to offer an alliance, to help prepare our world to be judged by the Celestials."

Nur took one long step forward and lifted the boy into the air by one shoulder. "What do you know of the Celestials? We are not under their _judgment_; when they return we must be prepared to destroy them!"

"I know as much about the Celestials as you know." Nate forced himself to remain calm, rather glad that Nur had chosen the _left_ shoulder to grab, and offered a small, slightly ironic smile. "Or perhaps I should say as much as you _will_ know, over the next seventeen centuries."

The youth's composure, at least, was admirable -- and to maintain it in such a circumstance suggested the confidence of truth... or at least a convincing story. And he had encountered the idea of time-travel before. "Explain." Nur opened his hand, and Nate floated gently down instead of falling. 

"Thank you," Nate said cooly, taking a moment to smooth the cloth Nur's hand had crumpled. Having Apocalypse's former prince to learn composure from had some benefits. "I come from the 38th century. I lived for a number of years in an abandoned library that _you_ founded. I read your journals and your research on the Celestials, and thought that you had the right idea about preparing the earth for their arrival. Unfortunately, you got...side-tracked over the years." He smiled cooly. "I want to keep you on track."

Nur raised one brow. "Aside from its very preposterousness as a lie, do you offer any evidence for this tale?"

"Only the evidence from your own writings. I trust your memory is good enough to recognize them if I quote them to you?"

"What writings?"

"...The accuracy of the events therein, then."

Nur studied the lad. The confidence was only barely shaken; he must know... something, or believe he did. He knew of the Celestials. "Speak."

Nate swallowed and braced himself invisibly. This is what it all hinged on. He _had_ to convince Nur that he was telling the truth _and_ worthy of aiding...or he had to kill him. "Make yourself comfortable; it's going to be a long story," he warned dryly. "I'll start with a woman named Nephri..."

There was no visible reaction on Nur's face, but as he spoke, Nate started to get the idea that Nur might even believe him. He spoke until his throat was dry, and finally paused to take a sip from the waterskin he carried. Before he could start again, Nur raised a hand to silence him. "Enough." 

"Do you accept that I'm not delusional, then?"

"If you are...then you have extremely well-informed delusions. You have not presented evidence that you are from the future, however." 

"'What writings?' and you don't accept my knowledge as evidence? If you have not yet revealed your memories and yet I have them correct, it must mean that you will write them down one day." 

"Or you stole them from my mind." Improbable. His will was too strong for his thoughts to be easily robbed. 

Nate took a deep breath. "I cannot see into your mind."

"You tried, then." 

"I tried and failed. Perhaps with more time -- but any deeper effort would have constituted an attack, and I wish for us to be allies."

Nur studied him. "You claim to share my goals." 

"I do. Your goals as they are _now_."

"You say this as if they will change."

"They will. I can't pinpoint exactly when, but at some point you started becoming more interested in ruling the world than saving it."

"If my control can prepare --"

"It didn't." 

The interruption earned him a glare that made Nate understand just how hard it must have been for Stryfe to consider crossing Apocalypse as a child.... "It didn't," he repeated more quietly, but earnestly. "I saw the results. Had the Celestials come near the end of your reign... we might have fought them. But we would not have won."

The concern, Nur judged, was real enough. "And what is it you expect to do? You say 'keep me on track' -- but unless you expect me to wander off course in the very near future, you surely have something more in mind."

"This time period is crucial, and it was nearly wasted because you spent more time fighting with the very people we need to work with, to guide. The 20th century is when mutants first became common. The evolutionary potentials are unmatched from any time in history. We can't afford to waste that potential."

"If there is fighting, the strong will win out." 

"The best warriors -- but the second best will die, though still good stock, and take the potential of their children with them. Those you would want to be culled would most likely be at the periphery -- some of the best may be lost as well, because they would be those to go out as champions." Nate drew breath. "And there are those whose abilities are hazardous to themselves -- but with a helping hand, they would be among the greatest of all."

"You propose to offer assistance to those who cannot survive on their own?"

"I propose to offer assistance -- and guidance -- to those who cannot fulfill their potential without knowledge and skills that are as yet undeveloped. I propose to improve the most powerful without undercutting them -- a tree needs roots that spread, not merely a taproot, or it falls all too easily. I saw what the destruction of too much... context did to my time. And if you limit the echelons of the highest and their offspring too strictly, they turn in on themselves and become... weak." 

Nur regarded him narrowly. "You believe your methods will work."

"I know what did _not_ work. I believe mine constitute a considerable improvement in our chances." Nate spread his hands, wondering if he should have been using a tree metaphor to one desert-bred. He'd spent too much time in the forest. "They do say hindsight is 20-20. I have information which you, currently, do not. If I didn't think my methods would work I wouldn't be proposing them. The question is, have I persuaded you?"

They say what? It was simple enough to work out the intention, however. Some of what the young man said did make sense -- to breed livestock, one allowed the best to mate, but with too small a pool the quality did suffer after some generations. If the Celestials would not come for some time... perhaps a certain amount of patience was in order. 

"I realize you have had few allies in your life, Nur," Nate dared to say lightly, "but you need not distrust me. I share your goals; I merely have some ideas for implementation -- and a warning against putting conquest over... growth."

"I have had allies before." 

"Then you know their value. It is certainly possible to succeed alone, and by many measurements you DID succeed for many years. But if your goal was to prepare for the Celestials, you failed. I bring an alternative. I CAN work on my own, but I would prefer to work with you rather than against you." Even if the opposition would only be brief. "What say you?"

It had been some time since anyone had ever aligned themselves with him spontaneously. Suspicious -- but the earnestness seemed unfeigned, the history he knew accurate and that he did not consistent -- but not, he thought, the most obvious to predict. "I say... that I will consider you an ally." 

Assistance that was truly more effective would be welcome. If this boy offered ill advice, he should be able to discern it... and he had found information from his equipment that indicated he had been awakened on account of a temporal disturbance, lending credence to the lad's tale. "Your strategies sound...feasible, and should you wish to work against me I do not think you would go to the trouble of awakening me and putting yourself in my grasp." His eyes narrowed. "This is, however, conditional. I suggest that you share your... suggestions... in more detail." 

It was a very long conversation. Nur seemed untiring, and Nate was exhausted and drawing on all the discipline he had learned and all the years inured to pain not to show it. But when he finally walked from Apocalypse's presence and whispered the command to timeslide, Nur still lived and Nate... could claim success.

*****

"Eat."

"Good--" Nate yawned hugely. "Good morning to you too."

"Good morning," Stryfe replied. "Now eat."

He set the tray he carried down on the bed beside Nate, then crossed his arms expectantly. Nate eyed the overloaded tray in amusement, then picked up a piece of fruit and started to munch on it. He really WAS hungry. About all he'd had the energy to do when he'd returned to the Askani was say that he'd been successful and was all right; he'd gone straight to his room after that and gotten reacquainted with his pillow for a very long time. He hadn't even been able to talk to Stryfe. He'd been helpfully informed that the Askani'Son was "out", and Aliya was "occupied". 

"Aren't you even going to say 'welcome back'?" he complained, looking up at his twin. "And sit down; you're going to give me a neck cramp."

"Welcome back. They told me you were exhausted when you got here."

"I was. Sit down and I'll tell you all about it."

Stryfe sat down on the edge of the bed. "You _still_ look exhausted."

"It was...a very tiring trip. But don't worry, I'm okay." He grinned and took a big mouthful of fruit. "And hungry."

"Was it the transit itself, or what you did while you were there? Er, then?"

"I didn't notice any problems with the transit. I was fine when I got there. Well, except for being a little light-headed and dizzy, but I think that was from the link." He reached out and put a hand on Stryfe's arm. "Feels a lot better now."

"It felt... very strange to have you gone. Not quite as if it were broken, but... you weren't _there_." Stryfe took a deep breath; the contact was helping, even though he'd known the instant Nate returned by the recovery of the other end of the link. He grinned wryly. "Aliya says I was very short-tempered all the time you were gone."

Nate's eyes sparkled mischievously. "How could she TELL?"

"Hey!"

Nate slid his hand down to grip Stryfe's, continuing eating one-handed. He squeezed tightly. "I missed you. It was _very_ strange not feeling you there." His mind curled up against the link. "I think I managed to keep my temper though."

"Hmm. Good. The twentieth century is still there, then?"

"Was when I left," Nate mumbled around a mouthful.

"Well, that's encouraging. The Askani said you'd succeeded. What did you do?"

"Just what I'd planned. Gathered some information...got an ally."

"Well, that was quick. Or was it? I don't even know how long you were there, just how long you were gone."

"About a week."

"Oath. Did you get any supplies besides what you took with you?" If not, no wonder he was ravenous... Stryfe wondered if he should have brought more water.

"I should've brought a little more. I bartered for some food while I was there." Nate grinned. "What an experience! Interacting with 20th century humans." He shook his head. "At last."

"Well, _share_. And what the flonq did you take to barter _with_?"

"I bartered a few hours' labor. I got a chance to ask some questions while I was working, get a feel for things. I'm going to have to work on my accent a little; they could tell I was foreign right away, asked a lot of questions." Nate concentrated on trying to eat as quickly as possible. He wanted to be done with food and out of bed by the time Stryfe got around to asking about his new ally...

Timing, as they say, is everything. "What were the answers? Whom did you ally with? Anyone we know from the histories, or someone else?"

Nate swallowed quickly. "Um...I tried to be as vague as possible without making them suspicious. But I didn't have to resort to telepathy, so that was good." He gave Stryfe's hand a squeeze, then let go and swung his legs over the side of the bed.

"I meant the answers to _your_ questions...."

"Oh. Well, there were a lot of them. I was mostly just trying to get a feel for the area. I think I should establish a few bases in different areas to make it easier, not attract so much attention." He grabbed some more fruit from the tray.

"All right. What about the ally, then?"

Nate choked on his fruit.

Stryfe pounded him worriedly on the back. "Are you all right? Oath, I didn't think it was that strange a question!"

"I'm fine." Nate coughed to clear his throat. "Sorry. Uh...you know what I mean."

"I _think_ if one of us were going to apologize for choking you, it would be me. I could be wrong." 

"You didn't choke me. It just went down wrong."

"Okay. You all right now?"

"Fine. Don't worry."

"All right." Stryfe opened his mouth to ask again just as Nate took another bite of fruit, and waited patiently for him to swallow, then stopped the fruit on the way to his mouth again. "_Nate!_ I know I told you to eat, but come on, tell me about the ally!" He was laughing.

Nate set aside the fruit and looked over at his brother. Baby brother. Loved him. Right. He took a breath. "The ally is...En Sabah Nur."

"WHAT?!" Stryfe practically leaped off the bed and halfway across the room before controlling himself. Panting slightly, he took a half-step back towards the bed. "...That was a joke, right? A very bad joke, but... a joke."

Nate stood up and walked hesitantly to his brother's side. He reached out and put a hand on Stryfe's arm. "I'm not joking, brother."

"Nate, this isn't funny."

"I'm not trying to be funny. It was a strategic move, Stryfe. That's all."

"You can't -- have possibly --" Stryfe was tenser than Nate remembered him being even when they'd first met, even when Sanctity decided to broadcast her announcement -- and he was trembling, very subtly. 

"It's all right," Nate said softly, keeping his voice low and very soothing. He reached up and clasped Stryfe's shoulder reassuringly. "Everything worked out."

"You -- can't -- NATHAN!" Stryfe threw his hand off, backing up, eyes wild. "What were you _thinking_?"

"_Calm down_, Stryfe." Nate held his hands out peacefully. "It's all right. I was thinking that it's flonqing stupid to go back in time to fix where Apocalypse messed up and work AGAINST him the entire time! Our goals were still the same then."

"WHAT DID YOU THINK YOU WERE DOING?"

Nate winced at the volume. "Recruiting an ally I thought was important to the success of my mission."

"You went to APOCALYPSE?"

"Yes."

"How -- could -- Were you _planning_ this?"

"I'm not stupid enough to go up to Apocalypse on a WHIM, Stryfe."

"You didn't tell me!"

"...I thought you'd probably react like this."

"You --" Stryfe shut his mouth, closed his eyes, then whirled and started out of the room.

"STRYFE!" Nate yelped and rushed to block his brother's exit. "Don't do that! Let me explain."

"Get out of my way!"

"Please don't leave mad, little brother."

"Don't _call_ me that!" The link was closed off, so tightly it hurt, and Stryfe's eyes were still shut. "Get out of my way. After everything --"

Nate stepped forward and hugged him tightly. "Please don't, Stryfe. Don't leave mad. What if you DIE and the last thing we did was _shout_ at each other? At least LISTEN to me! I'm your brother. I love you more than _anything_!"

Stryfe tried to push him away. "I'm not planning on dying. Let me _go_." He could have freed himself telekinetically; without it, it was hopeless even without working blind. "You went to _him_ --"

"Neither were Redd and Slym, and THEY still left! PLEASE, Stryfe! Just let me explain! YES, I went to him. I HAD to, for my MISSION. If he didn't agree to cooperate, I was going to kill him!"

"And now you're going to work with him!" 

"YES! I'm working with him. You KNEW I was basing all of this off of HIS mission. I couldn't exactly leave him out of it!"

"I didn't think you'd --" Stryfe stopped, gulping back the rest of his words. He _had_ known that, but what little control he'd had until this point was deserting him, and he was shaking too hard even to fight Nate's grip. It still felt like a betrayal.

Nate kept clinging to Stryfe, keeping his end of the link entirely open even if Stryfe was shielding _his_ half to a painful degree. "Look at my mind, little brother. This was strategic, that's ALL. I won't forget what he did to you, but...it was a LOT older him. ...Different."

"Strategic," Stryfe agreed numbly. If he were calm, if he seemed calm, Nathan would let him go and he could get out the door and go find somewhere to collapse. Preferably with Aliya. Except that would require going through the hallways.

"Stryfe, _look_. I--I knew you'd be upset about it... The only reason I didn't tell you before was because I thought you'd insist on coming WITH me and...I wouldn't have been able to talk to him then."

"It was... strategic. I knew you were working on his mission. I already threw the relevant fit." 

Nate nodded eagerly. "It was strategic. That's it. I HAD to talk to him."

"Of course you did." Now if Nate would let go of him at some point while he could still stand on his own.

"Stryfe..." Nate sighed and leaned his head against Stryfe's. "If you're as calm as you're trying to sound, unshield the link."

"I'd rather not. Why don't you let me go and I will leave you here to finish breakfast and contemplate your new ally." His voice was still mostly steady, but developing a decided raw edge.

"Stryfe...I love you."

"That's nice."

Nate readjusted, keeping his hands on Stryfe's shoulders to keep him in place but moving so he could look his brother in the eye. "Stryfe. Talk to me."

"I'd really rather leave." Except for the terrified and utterly illogical feeling that he'd never see Nate again if he did, which might be why he hadn't gathered his thoughts to free himself yet.

"...I'd really rather you stay. Until we work this out. Please." Nate was having the horrible, gut-clenching feeling that he might have gained an ally and lost his brother.

"What's to work out? This is what your mission was. It was strategic."

"But you're mad at me."

"You went to Apocalypse. You went to my worst flonqing _nightmare_, Nathan."

"...I know."

"You know," Stryfe repeated. "Then let _go_ of me."

"...If I do, will I see you again?"

"Y-yes." Only the slightest catch.

"You don't sound too sure."

Stryfe had a sudden, brief but compelling vision of himself walking out the door, shutting it hard behind him, not quite a slam...and then...avoiding Nate, and vice versa, until one or the other of them left for good... He stumbled, despite not having tried to go anywhere, and nearly fell against Nathan. "I don't know." 

"_Please_," Nate pleaded. "Talk to me, YELL at me, just do SOMETHING! Don't LEAVE!"

"_Why the flonq not_?"

"BECAUSE YOU'RE MY BROTHER!"

Stryfe flinched back slightly at the shout, at such close range. "Am I?"

"_Yes_, flonq it! You're my brother, my twin, the other part of my MIND. I never wanted to hurt you."

~You DID.~ "I'm your clone. Let me _go_."

"You're my brother and I don't want to lose you."

Stryfe's voice was strangled. "The -- mission is more important. I can understand --" 

"It is NOT more important than YOU! NOTHING is! Stryfe, little brother, if I thought it was even _remotely_ possible that he would hurt you, I would've killed him while he slept! But this is _seventeen centuries_ before he even knew you! He's going to help, and I'm going to keep him from going down that path again."

"Don't say that. It is. Mine is. I can -- understand that." Stryfe took a shaky breath. "But it's -- Apocalypse." There was light beating against his closed eyelids, too hard; it didn't make sense to open them, but he did. Nate's eye was flaring, the light glittering off and through the tears in both. 

"I know. I'm sorry. But I had to at least _try_."

"Nate... let me go. Please."

Nate blinked hard and dropped his hands. "Don't hate me."

"I... I don't think I can."

"...I'd rather you not WANT to, but I'll take what I can get right now."

"I don't want to."

"...Good. I love you."

Apocalypse. His brother had allied himself with Apocalypse. 

And still said he loved him.

"I don't believe this," Stryfe whispered savagely.

"What?" Nate asked, not sure if he should. He hated seeing that look in his brother's eyes, that horribly empty expression. He'd only seen close to it once before, when Stryfe had first found out he was a clone. But this...was worse. Much worse.

"This -- what you --"

"I know I hurt you. I'm sorry. And _don't_ tell me that has no meaning!"

Stryfe's mouth twisted into a bitter smile. "You already said that you expected this reaction."

"That doesn't mean I WANTED it! I knew you'd be upset. I was hoping you would let me explain and--and realize I did what I had to, and forgive me for it?"

"You went to _Apocalypse_." He was, Stryfe noticed dimly, repeating himself.

"I _HAD_ to."

"You could have killed him! You could have let him sleep...."

"No, I couldn't let him sleep. He was already waking up. As big a surge of chronal energy as my arrival caused set off his sensors. He was waking up _anyway_, just by my being in the 20th century. I didn't have much of a window. But yes, I could've killed him. I _would've_, if he hadn't agreed to go along with my plan. And...I still might. I know I can't trust him. But I have a lot better chance of succeeding if he's working with me."

"You knew you'd wake him. How could --" 

Nathan blew out a breath in frustration. "Stryfe. Little brother. I still maintain that the Askani are manipulative and downright bizarre, but they _are_... pragmatic. Is this your first introduction to the idea of making a distasteful ally?"

Stryfe looked away. "...No."

"Well, then? I don't LIKE the idea of working with him, and I was half-terrified the whole time we were talking, but right now, I need him. I knew it would hurt you, and I didn't want that to happen, but I need him."

Stryfe was shivering again. "I --" He stopped, swallowed, and started again in a more controlled voice. "I should have taken this more calmly." He summoned a tiny smile. "And that is as close as I'll get to an apology. Be satisfied."

"I don't want an apology. I don't want the next best thing to an apology. I want my brother back; I want the link open. I want you not to look at me like I just tried to rip your mind open." 

Stryfe flinched. "Then I'd have killed you." He was trying for a light tone. 

"No," Nate said softly. "You would have tried. I just wish...that you couldn't even imagine trying, like I can't imagine trying to kill _you_. You're my brother. You're the only flonqing family I HAVE, and I don't want to lose you!" Nate shut his eyes against the hurt and loss and fear building up, and whispered, "Don't let him tear us apart again, little brother."

That cut. "You're the one who went to him."

"As a _strategic decision_. He's my ally now, but YOU are my brother."

"Your clone."

"Will you STOP that!" 

Nate instantly regretted yelling, but Stryfe's mouth twitched before he suddenly turned around and, instead of dodging past Nathan to the door, sat down on the end of the bed and put his face in his hands. Nate wasn't quite sure whether his twin was laughing or crying. 

Neither, as it happened, was Stryfe.

Nate walked over hesitantly and after a moment's debate with himself sat down and put an arm around his twin's shoulders. Stryfe flinched back from him. Nate sighed and leaned his head down on Stryfe's shoulder. "Don't do that. I love you. I never wanted to hurt you."

"Stop that. You knew." Stryfe shuddered -- it had been a long time since he'd assumed any touch was an attack, and he couldn't bring himself to fear Nathan even now, but he still didn't really want to be crying. "You knew. We both knew -- have known -- still know that we will hurt each other if we have to." 

"I knew I _would_ hurt you," Nate said softly, sadly. "That doesn't mean I wanted to. And I...hoped you would forgive me. That's what family does."

Stryfe shivered again, and he _thought_ the next catch in his breath was laughter. Mostly. "That -- telling me that -- isn't fair at all, you know."

"So who plays fair? You're the most important person in my life, Stryfe."

"Oath... no wonder you were worn out when you got back...." That one was definitely a sob. He was not keeping himself together properly at _all_....

"Yeah." Nate smiled weakly, squeezing Stryfe's shoulders. "He's an interrogator."

Stryfe twitched. "You still _look_ like you're in one piece...."

"Physically. Mentally I think I'm _still_ shaking. I knew it would be hard, but..."

"He didn't harm you?" It still hurt... but... he supposed he understood. Now that he was through panicking. It was unbecoming to the Askani'Son to panic....

Obviously Nathan had done better.

"No. I was there just as he was waking up. We...talked. I convinced him I was telling the truth, and that my plan would better accomplish his goals. I...wouldn't say he _agrees_ with me on everything, but he's willing to try for now."

"Talked." Stryfe laughed shakily. "With him..." His head was throbbing, and he realized finally that it would probably help if he didn't have the link clenched shut.

"Yes." Nate was pouring love and reassurance and calm through the link, but he didn't think any of it was getting through. He was starting to get a headache from how closed off the link was.

Still a little -- illogically, he told himself firmly -- afraid, Stryfe reminded himself that Nate had never given him any reason (~Any other reason?~) to distrust him, and forced himself to relax the shielding that twisted the link shut. The instantaneous flood of emotions made him flinch back, but -- no. Not an attack, just... just Nate trying to make him feel better.

Oath. He really _was_ crying now.

Nate was tearing up a little himself, from the fear and the horrible sense of betrayal he was reading from Stryfe now that the link was open again. He rubbed Stryfe's back soothingly. He'd known Stryfe would hardly take the news calmly, but...he still hadn't quite expected...this. He rummaged around for a cloth and offered it to Stryfe silently to wipe his eyes.

Stryfe accepted it. "Good thing we're not in the desert anymore," he muttered. And that the purifiers were working.

"Yeah," Nate sighed. He leaned his head on Stryfe's shoulder. "You know I love you, right?"

"...Yes." Hard to miss, at the moment. Hard to miss Nate's silent underlying fear of being... left, too, although Stryfe didn't think this was completely fair considering _he_ hadn't been the one going anywhere.

Nate wished Stryfe didn't sound so reluctant about that. "You know that I would never betray you."

It didn't feel that way. But he'd known all this time that Nate's mission was based on Apocalypse's -- Apocalypse's old one, at any rate -- and this shouldn't be such a surprise. 

"Stryfe?" Nate prompted softly after his brother was silent for a long moment.

"It felt as if you did."

"...I'm sorry. I wouldn't betray you, Stryfe. You're more important to me than Apocalypse is." He laughed shakily. "A LOT more important!"

"But not particularly useful in that timeframe."

"...You'd be VERY useful, but you want to stay here." Which he understood, really, even if he'd entertained a few wild daydreams of Stryfe deciding to leave the manipulative Askani and come back with HIM...

"I have my own mission." ~And I couldn't go back... then... _now_.~

"I know. I understand. That doesn't mean you _wouldn't_ be useful."

"I wouldn't now."

"Yes, you would. But it doesn't matter, because you won't come back. So I have to recruit allies _then_. Just like _you_ don't count on _me_ for anything you have to do here and now."

"I wouldn't if it meant I had to work with _him_!"

"...There's a lot to do. He's just one part of it."

"As you reminded me, your mission is based on his."

"And you KNEW that before I ever went back there, before I ever even thought about contacting him!"

"Right."

"You KNEW that. You KNEW that _whatever_ I did would be based ultimately on Apocalypse. You knew that from the first day we MET, and you still managed to trust me. Love me. Or at least I _thought_ you did. Stab your eyes, Stryfe, I know he hurt you, but it's not like this came out of NOWHERE!"

Stryfe flinched. "Fine." 

"And don't pretend that you wouldn't make whatever allies you needed to for YOUR mission, even if they were my enemies."

"I'm not," Stryfe bit off. 

"...Then why do you hate me?" Nate asked plaintively.

"I don't." 

"You're ACTING like it!"

"_Sorry,_" Stryfe snarled, throwing down the cloth and jerking to his feet. "I'll go now."

"Will you STOP trying to run out on me?!" Nate shouted, surging to his feet. "I should have expected it! I _didn't._ What do you want me to DO, Nathan?" "I don't know! Talk to me, yell at me, HIT me! Just don't LEAVE." His voice caught on the last word. "I just...want us to be okay again. Tell me what I have to do. Please."

"I don't know," Stryfe whispered. "I shouldn't --"

"Shouldn't what?"

"I don't know."

"You're still my brother. You'd ALWAYS be my brother, no matter what."

"There is... no good reason -- I overreacted." _Almost_ calm again. Might help if he had thought to shield the link again.

"I--should've found a better way to tell you. I was just tired...I couldn't think of one."

"I don't think there was one." Stryfe gave up and leaned his forehead against the doorjamb. "Bright Lady. You recruited Apocalypse."

"...Yeah, I did." He laughed shakily. "If it helps, I still can't believe I did it. Or that it _worked_."

"Nate, shut up. I'm trying very hard to come up with a more palatable way to think about this than that you decided to go work with Apocalypse. In any century."

"...You could try thinking of him as Nur?"

"I thought of him as Nur most of the time I was a child, Nathan, that does not help."

"Oh."

"I did say to be quiet."

Nate heaved a (silent) sigh and sat back down on his bed. After a moment he flopped back and stared at the ceiling instead of Stryfe's back.

"You should finish your breakfast."

"...I'm not hungry anymore."

"You need to eat."

Nate sighed again and turned over on his side, picking at the food on the tray half-heartedly.

"I don't hate you, Nathan," Stryfe said quietly after a long moment. "I -- I didn't anticipate this." A pause. "I suppose I should have."

"I'm glad you don't hate me," Nate replied just as quietly.

"I can't...." Stryfe turned and sank down against the wall, eyes closed. "I can't."

Nate blinked away tears. "I'm glad," he repeated, helplessly. He wanted to go hug Stryfe, to take comfort from his closeness and refresh the link with physical contact, but...he was afraid of how Stryfe would react to that right now.

"I'm not. It's terrifying -- it's not that I _want_ to hate you, but if I can't --"

"Is it really _that_ bad to have someone you can't hate? You _know_, deep down, that I would never betray you. Why would you NEED to hate me?"

"I don't know what I know about you!"

"You've been in my mind more than anyone else ever has, even Redd! If you don't know me, who DO you know?!"

"That's a good question, isn't it?" Very soft. Very cold. Stryfe opened his eyes. "That's the problem. I don't... know. This shouldn't have been such a... a shock. It was. I had all the information and I didn't think of it. I'm linked to you and I never found _out_ about it. What and whom _do_ I really know, Nate?"

"...I don't know. But you never--you never asked about a LOT of details of my mission. It's MY mission, not yours, and you have your hands full enough as it is. I could name a lot of things about my mission that you don't know, and wouldn't even have thought of. Not because I'm _trying_ to keep them from you, but just because...it's not your mission."

"This... this was kind of an important one, Nate."

"I know."

"Well. That's good, anyway."

"I was just trying to say...just because you don't know everything doesn't mean you don't know ME."

Stryfe sighed shakily and put his head down on his knees. He was sure he should be deeply ashamed of himself for losing it like this, and probably would be shortly, but for now he was just... a little numb. Except for the link. He could sense Nate's desperation through it.... He sighed. "I'm -- not going anywhere."

"Good," Nate managed to choke out against the relief that surged up through him. The sudden relief clashed badly with the desperation, frantic worry, anger, and sheer exhaustion that had been battling inside him since Stryfe's reaction began, and he buried his face abruptly in the bed to hide the sudden rush of tears. Flonq it, he was a grown man! Why was he acting like he was twelve years old again?

"Th-thirteen," Stryfe whispered. "I was twelve."

"I'm a-acting like a flonqing _c-child_, whatever age! I d-didn't c-cry when Redd and Slym l-left, I s-shouldn't--"

Stryfe looked up then, swallowed, and pushed himself up from the floor. Nate jumped when he felt a hand on his shoulder. "Nate, I didn't mean..." Stryfe began uncertainly.

"I kn-knew you wouldn't be h-happy about it, b-but I didn't think you'd be..." He sniffled and pushed his face harder into the bedding. "I w-wasn't trying to b-betray you..."

"Nate...." The loss of control on the other side of the link, ironically, had shocked Stryfe mostly back into reason. He _had_ been overreacting; it was all emotion -- he'd known that, known that Nate's move was probably actually brilliant, but it hadn't _felt_ that way. He hadn't...He'd noticed Nate's worry, had known for years now how his brother had felt when Slym and Redd disappeared, but Nate had had just enough control that Stryfe hadn't realized what his own reaction was doing to him....

"I'm sorry. I know you say that doesn't mean anything, and it probably doesn't, because even knowing how you'd react I'd do the same thing because I HAVE to, but--" He choked up, unable to speak. #I'm so sorry...#

"Nate, it's -- all right." Stryfe swallowed. "It was...strategically sound. It made perfect sense. I was just...being emotional." 

A choked, watery laugh. "Then w-what am _I_ being?"

#If you were afraid to lose me you can't have really wanted to hurt me.# Stryfe wasn't sure why he slipped that across the link, except that it seemed too absurd to say out loud... #I -- I've known I could trust you, I just --# He'd been in shock, he'd been thinking of Apocalypse...and none of it was any excuse.

#Of course I didn't want to hurt you!# Nate exclaimed in outrage, jerking his head up to look at Stryfe. #You're the only family I HAVE. I love you. I--I didn't want...#

#I didn't want to think you had. And I -- don't want to lose you. Especially not before I have to.#

And eventually they would have to, Nate reflected soberly. He could only make so many jumps across the timestream before the differences became so great that it would be dangerous to travel back and forth any longer. Nathan would be in the 20th century, and Stryfe in the 38th, each on his own mission. #I don't want to lose you either.# Oath, THAT was an understatement!

#Okay.# Stryfe took a breath that was still less than steady, but...better. #So...we don't want to lose each other, we don't want to hurt each other, we both know at least the first and probably the second can be expected, and...all right. If I promise not to throw another fit will you tell me what happened?#

#Well...when you put it that way, how can I refuse?# Nate smiled tentatively and sat up, wiping his eyes with his sleeve.

#That was sort of the idea.# Stryfe paused. #Ah, Nate? Did you by any chance tell _Aliya_ what you were planning ahead of time? Because she just inquired very composedly whether we had calmed down yet.#

#_You're_ the one who's linked to her, and you're wondering why she knows you were upset? I didn't tell her any more than I told you.# Because however much he liked her, she WAS an Askani, and he didn't quite trust them.

#Well, she also made some comment about unlocking the door.#

#Oops. I guess we can let her in now if you want.#

#Ah, no, I mean _she_ locked the door. She's not _there_ at the moment.# Although locking them in would have been at best symbolic anyway. Stryfe shrugged and tentatively offered a hug.

Nate hugged him back tightly, giving a tiny contented sigh as the contact reinforced the still not fully-recovered link. #Love you.# "So...what do you want to hear?"

#Love you too.# "Ah -- why don't you start with something like how you got _Apocalypse_ to listen to you."

Nate pulled back and settled himself comfortably, facing his brother. "Well, basically, I just sat at the edge of his hibernation chamber until he woke up, and told him I was there to keep him on track." His mouth quirked wryly. "I think I impressed him with my audacity."

"...I guess that could do it. Er, obviously it did...."

"I had to recite his flonqing history until the 16th century before he believed me about the time travel, though," Nate snorted. "Not that I blame him, I guess. _I_ would've been suspicious."

"The 16th? That convinced him you were from the _future_?"

"Well, including things that HE hadn't told anyone. And I told him about the diaries, so..." He shrugged. "Telling him about things that hadn't happened yet wouldn't tell him much except that I have a good imagination."

"True. It makes sense, I suppose." Stryfe rubbed at his face absently, trying to scrub away dried tears. "Oath. I don't think I'd have had the nerve...."

"Well...I never really _knew_ him before, and I studied his diaries for a good ten years. I...guess I thought I knew how he thought THEN, when he still was thinking more about saving the world than conquering it."

"There is something incongruous in thinking of Apocalypse as interested in saving the world.... I gather from your phrasing that you encountered something unexpected?"

"Just...I _wasn't_ prepared to come up to him face-to-face. I'm not sure I COULD have faced him if I'd know him in this time."

"Mph. Don't say that just to try to make me feel better." Stryfe leaned back on air, staring at the ceiling. "You did meet him in this time though...."

"I'm not saying it just to make you feel better. When I met him in this time, he wasn't exactly at his best, you know. He has this...presence." Nate shivered a little. "Well, you know. If I'd KNOWN I was going to face that..."

"I don't know if I know... You have all my memories of him, or copies anyway." Stryfe squeezed his twin's shoulder. "You must not have shown it..."

"I pulled on all that Askani'Son dignity you walk around with," Nate replied with a grin.

Stryfe snorted. "You can't credit _me_ with it."

"Hah. _I_ grew up a lowly peasant and spent ten years in a library. All my dignity and arrogance comes from you, brother. Well...maybe not ALL the arrogance."

"_You_ are the original Askani'Son."

"Don't start that again!"

"Then head me off by going back to your story."

"Hmph. YOU were the first one who was actually _trained_ as the Askani'Son, and it's the training that matters. _Anyway_, after he realized that I was probably telling the truth about the time travel, I had to explain my plan, and where he went wrong, and why I thought I could do better. I felt like I'd been left in the desert for a month after he was through asking questions!"

"I thought you took water."

"I did. I was still worn out and generally feeling ready to collapse." He smiled wryly. "Which I _did_ as soon as I got back here."

"Good timing."

"Sheer stubbornness."

"That works."

"So." Nate held his hands out in front of him. "That's it. We'll be consulting more the next time I go back, but we're not going to be _working_ together the whole time." He smiled weakly. "Not sure I could handle it. But he knows where he went WRONG before, and what I want to do differently."

"Did he _agree_ to it?"

"Yes. Conditional to my not being proved a liar later, of course."

"Ah."

Nate leaned back on his elbows. "So that's the state of it right now. I'll see next time I go back if it keeps working. So what have YOU been doing since I've been gone?"

"There have been no drastic changes in status. You weren't gone all _that_ long."

"I know. Just making sure." He raised an eyebrow and grinned. "And how is Aliya?"

"Well and busy. How else?"

"Are you ever going to get around to marrying her?"

Stryfe turned an interesting shade of red. Nate's grin widened. "Come on, little brother. I don't have a love life of my own, so I have to interfere in yours."

Stryfe muttered something about how Nathan should give the Askani who flirted with him a little encouragement.

"You've _been_ psi-linked to her for years now," Nate persisted, since the comments were low enough that he could justify pretending he hadn't heard. "I'd like to see my favorite little brother settled while I'm still here."

"She's Askani. If she wants something more permanent she'll probably say so."

"..._You're_ Askani too."

"...True."

Nate shrugged. "_I_ think you should ask her. But you don't have to listen to me, I'm just your big brother..." He winked and added, "And NO, Aliya didn't put me up to this."

Stryfe snorted. "I hadn't thought to ask -- but I should have. Never be straightforward when devious will do...." 

"Oath. Askani." Nate rolled his eyes.

"That was a joke!"

"Sounded like another Askani saying to me. _You've_ certainly used it."

"I have a nasty feeling it's a holdover from court...but to tell the truth I think it fits the Askani just as well," Stryfe admitted wryly. "Although, really, I try not to do it unless being straightforward is more hazardous."

"All right, all right. Just teasing you." Nate winked, then assumed a studiously innocent expression and asked, "So do I get to listen in?"

"On _what_, me trying to propose to her? Only if SHE lets you."

"Well, I can't exactly ask, 'Aliya, do you mind if I listen while Stryfe proposes?' unless you don't mind me giving it all away before you can open your mouth!"

"That would be a problem, wouldn't it?"

"Fine, I'll just harass you for details later."

"Oath!"

"All right, I'll harrass HER for details."

"I'm not sure that isn't worse."

"That was the idea."

"Oath. I never realized family was so flonqing annoying until you showed up."

Nate grinned on, undeterred. "And you love every minute of it."

"...Well, yes."

"So I'll start preparing my list of reasons why she should marry you for when Aliya comes to ask me."

"...Why would she ask YOUR advice?"

"Because I'm very wise? And technically, wouldn't I be the head of our family?" Nate's grin was almost too broad to be comfortable. "She _should_ talk to me, then."

"That's vaguely frightening."

"Isn't it? I just thought of that."

"I was thinking you wouldn't be an appropriate source of advice because you're biased...."

"All the more reason!"

"...I'm not sure I should examine the logic of that statement too closely."

"Who would know your good qualities better than ME? Not to mention the reasons you're annoying but good to put up with anyway."

"...Thanks."

"I expect you to return the favor _some_day."

"Can't do it if you go and fall in love in the 20th century after you leave me," Stryfe retorted with a mostly-faked sniff.

"...No, I guess not. I...guess you'll be telling your kids all about their crazy Uncle Nate, right?" He tried a smile, but it felt very fake.

Stryfe swallowed. "Everything."

Nate sighed. He really needed to stop dwelling on this. "I guess I should be prepared to hear you've named one of them Slym, right?"

Stryfe turned red again. "Um...well...don't be surprised."

"I knew it." Nate smiled sadly. "I like it, though."

"I'd hope so. I...only like him better, from your memories...."

"I'm glad. He...would've liked you, I think." Nate blinked rapidly. This was turning into a depressing conversation.

"Maybe...eventually." There was a short silence before Stryfe offered cautiously, "Maybe I could help sometime. Not when you were going to talk to Apocalypse...."

"I wouldn't expect you then, but..." Nate smiled tentatively. "That would be nice. You could come help me a little and be back almost before you left. We couldn't do it a LOT before the disruptions get too much, but...that would be nice." He put his hand on Stryfe's arm. "Thanks."

"...I'm a coward."

Nate blinked. "Excuse me?"

"I won't even face him...."

"...If you had to _fight_ him, I would trust you 100% to be up to it. But...WORK with him? That's different. I understand."

Stryfe shook his head. "I should --"

"There's no REASON for you to work with him. Like I said, there's a lot to do, and he's only part of it. I'd be grateful for your help."

"I should still... be able to. And I don't know if I could."

"I...think you could, if you had to." Nate shrugged. "But the only one you ever really NEEDED to face, you already did. And won."

"I didn't. You did. And I didn't even remember you were there."

"I'm not really surprised you didn't remember me being there," Nate said dryly. "And by HIS terms, you won. He's dead. You're alive."

"And I have spent my life since then trying to get AWAY from defining things according to his terms...."

"Still being alive is a pretty good indication of winning by anyone's terms."

"I... just don't know."

"I can't think of many people who would've been strong enough to stand up to him for as long as you _did_ after being in that energy field for however long it was."

"I've never really been sure."

"Well, it was a while, at least." Nate laughed a little. "You held him off all alone, and it took FOUR of us to beat him."

"He wasn't really trying until after you got there. I saw your memories too."

Nate shrugged. "You're not going to listen to anything I say, apparently. I think you won. You faced him when you had to. You could again."

"It doesn't feel that way."

"Trust me, little brother?"

"...I do."

"Good." Nate leaned over and hugged him again tightly.

"Wouldn't let you do that if I didn't," Stryfe replied quietly, leaning into his brother. 

*****


	2. 2

_Disclaimer: See Chapter 1._

**Double Helix: Twin Divide  
by Andrea and Persephone_Kore  
Chapter 2/2**

"Mmm. I thought I would be annoyed that Nathan had returned, because he would take up your attention again. But if the result of his return is that you are this... affectionate, I will have to conspire to keep him here longer."

Stryfe chuckled and pulled Aliya closer to him, running his hand along her arm. "I'm glad you approve."

"Oh, definitely."

"Anyway, you're the one who locked us in...." 

Aliya shrugged. "You needed to finish your argument. Besides, it's not as if either of you would have had any trouble tripping the lock from inside."

"True enough. I...still cannot quite believe he actually had the gall to contact _Apocalypse_. But...he seems very optimistic about his mission."

"It's certainly... disconcerting, but I suppose it's a logical step based on his goals. If he's trying to get Apocalypse's original life mission right, it would hardly be productive to have him fouling it up in all the same historical ways...."

"I acknowledged the logic of it, once I worked past the...emotional response."

"Which I realize was difficult," Aliya murmured.

"...Extremely."

"I think some of the Askani would deal with the idea less well than you did, and with less personal reason."

"I had more personal reason _to_ deal with it."

Aliya smiled and twisted up to kiss him lightly. "Nathan has been very good for you, I think."

"Does that mean you're not annoyed with him after all?"

"I didn't say he was never annoying," she retorted with a grin. 

"As it happens, I agree with you on that point." Stryfe winked. "But he is very good at...making me think of things in a way I hadn't before."

"Useful. I gather from your tone there's something of current significance?"

"How long have we been together now?" he asked rhetorically. He, of course, remembered every moment of their time together. Although he thought he probably would even _without_ his telepath's memory. He wrapped his arms and mind around her warmly. "Nathan begins to ask when he will have nieces and nephews to spoil."

Aliya blinked, then started laughing even as she returned the physical and mental cuddle. "Sometime when we are NOT going into combat on a regular basis. Especially me, for about nine months."

"Well, yes, I did rather expect that. But I still began thinking that...perhaps we should make things more... permanent. I know I love you as I love no other."

Aliya tilted her head at him, smiling. "You wish to bond, then?" 

"Yes." He raised an eyebrow at her. "Provided you are amenable, of course."

Aliya grinned. "Does this mean you take back what you called me when you first woke up here?"

"No. I simply think your good points outweigh it now," Stryfe replied blandly.

"Do you actually remember what you said?"

"...I remember insulting you quite freely. But I suppose that wasn't when I _first_ woke up. Very well, what was it? It's not really fair of you to hold it against me _now_, you know."

"...Actually, to my lasting embarrassment, I still haven't found a translation."

"Hmm...Well, perhaps if you _told_ me, I could translate."

"Very well." She repeated a phrase in an oddly guttural language. 

Stryfe raised one eyebrow, then the other. "Ah...no, I don't believe I'll translate. But consider it revoked."

"...Now I definitely want to know what it meant."

"No."

"That bad?"

"...I was in a VERY bad mood when I woke up."

"I had noticed that." 

"I thought you might've." He shifted slightly so he could face her and looked at her seriously. "I never got an answer to my question, you know."

"No... no, you didn't." She smiled. "I am very much amenable."

The Askani'Son dignity Nathan loved to chide him about vanished as Stryfe's face broke out in a broad smile. "And I am very, very glad that is the case."

"Mind you, if I find that I regularly can't get your attention away from Nathan, I may have to bond with him too." 

"...I certainly wouldn't mind. But you probably wouldn't care for having one bondmate in another century. And while brothers are supposed to share, I wouldn't mind keeping you to myself, either. And you would have some heartbroken Sisters to deal with."

Aliya permitted herself to giggle, which was comparatively rare. "You _really_ should have seen your expression when I first said that...." 

"Just wait until you can see Nathan's face when I relay it to HIM."

That was, Stryfe decided, a definite snicker. "This should be entertaining."

"Yes, it should. But if you don't mind, I'd like to enjoy the moment with you for a short time before involving my brother."

"An excellent idea."

He smiled and kissed her gently. "I thought so."

*****

"What IS this thing?"

Hope looked up from her own heap of mysterious plastic and metal to squint at the piece Nathan was holding up. The fact that they had already restored the device for time travel didn't mean that they were going to stop trying to figure out what the various _other_ equipment salvaged from far-flung sources was supposed to do. Or, failing that, make it do something else. "It's a bolt." 

"With a hat?"

"Well...." 

"Or a hood, anyway. A bonnet?"

Hope laughed at that, which left the question of bolts and millinery unanswered by the time their respective siblings entered the room hand in hand. "When you two start laughing, I don't know whether to hide or ask 'can I help?'" Aliya mused, smiling down at them and taking a seat cross-legged on the floor.

"I'll hide; you help," Stryfe advised. "The only thing that truly frightens me is all THREE of you working together."

"Nathan's speculating on bolts with headgear," Hope explained with a wave of an utterly irrelevant piece of metal. "What are you two up to?"

"Looking for both of you, actually. And we've succeeded." Stryfe looked over Aliya and raised his eyebrow. "Does that mean we can leave again?"

She grinned. "Tell them."

"Tell us what?" Hope asked eagerly.

"If you'd stop asking questions, I might answer."

Hope pouted at Stryfe for a moment, but obediently remained silent.

"Ahem. Thank you. Aliya and I have decided to bond."

"HAH! Finally!" Nathan crowed. "Which of you got around to suggesting it?"

"Ah. That reminds me." Aliya grinned and leaned over to kiss Nate soundly. "Thank you for reminding him."

"I guess that answers that question," Nate replied after recovering from the initial moment of shock.

Stryfe grinned. "I suppose that answers OUR question as well, Aliya. If he looks that surprised at a kiss, I don't suppose he'd be willing to bond with you as well."

Nate blinked. "What?"

"Aliya threatened to bond with you as well if you continue occupying too much of my time."

"I'm assuming she was threatening _you_, not me...."

"A little of both, I think."

"Okay, I don't think being bonded to her constitutes a _threat_, and you'd BETTER not...."

"I certainly don't think it's a threat. Don't try to get me in trouble. A double bond, however, is fairly unusual, even among the Askani."

"I wouldn't really try to get you in trouble with Aliya; I like you." Nathan grinned. "And yes, it is."

"But it's not all that uncommon with twins," Aliya put in, smiling. "Since they often don't want to be separated."

Stryfe and Nathan exchanged glances. "...That's not such an issue with us," Nate said softly.

"Well, alternatively," Hope observed, "it can be creepy to have them inseparable but only be bonded to one."

"We're hardly inseparable," Stryfe replied shortly.

"Psionically you seem to be, especially to hear my sister tell it."

"Not when Nate's in the 20th century."

"Ah, I see."

"I wouldn't _look_ anyway," Nate protested, affronted. "I don't NOW. It doesn't matter if we're linked."

"Hm? Oh, that's not what I meant." Hope grinned. "Just the general closeness."

"There's a different closeness with my brother than with my wife." Stryfe lifted an eyebrow at Aliya. "Or at least I certainly HOPE so."

Hope sighed. Loudly. "She's MY sister; you don't have to take everything I say wrong."

"But it's so much more fun that way."

"And she's _almost_ my sister," Nate added with a grin.

"Hey! Mine!" Hope yelped mock-indignantly.

"If she's bonding with my brother, she gets to be my sister. So if it's all the same to you both, I think I'll pass on bonding." He winked at Aliya. "I _like_ you, but I've never been quite sure how much of it has been Stryfe!"

"Fair enough."

"But congratulations. And may I add that Natalie is a great name when you have a daughter?"

Aliya laughed. "We'll keep that in mind."

"Are they not allowed to have a son?" Hope asked with a grin.

"I thought all Askani wanted daughters?" Nate laughed. "Besides, they'd probably name a son Slym...."

"Or Tyler," Aliya suggested thoughtfully.

Nate tilted his head. "Why Tyler?"

"After...an old friend. My grandfather, actually."

"Ah. It's nice. I just hadn't heard it before."

"We'll pick something."

"Not that we're planning on needing to for a while," Stryfe put in, looking vaguely panicked. "We didn't think of having children yet while things are so unstable."

"No, we weren't -- so you can stop looking so alarmed," Aliya informed him with amusement.

"Have one soon," Nate said softly. "I'd like to play Uncle Nate for a while."

Stryfe looked haunted. Aliya reached over and squeezed his hand. "We'll see what we can do. You WILL be here for the bonding." She fixed him with a stern look. "No matter what you must arrange. That is the beauty of time travel."

Nathan smiled at her. "I wouldn't dream of missing it."

"It's just as well you _aren't_ bonding with both of them, Aliya," Hope observed, leaning back on her hands and smiling. "The bonding of ONE Askani'Son will be quite enough ceremony for us to deal with. Two at once might be too much."

"True, true -- unless you're hinting in roundabout fashion that you'd like him?" 

Hope laughed; Nathan spluttered. "I'm not some prize to be passed around, you know!" he protested.

"I made no claims that you were," Hope said innocently. "...Stryfe was the prize. You're the consolation." She laughed and held her hands up in defense.

"_Ouch_. If I didn't need you as a technician...."

"You still wouldn't harm me. We ARE practically family."

"I was thinking more of avoidance."

"Lucky me. I get you around instead."

"Which you don't appreciate nearly enough," Nathan replied loftily.

"Sounds like she appreciates it about as much as it deserves," Stryfe observed with a grin.

"Hmph. I _could_ get out of your way, here...."

"_NO_!" Stryfe snapped, much more intensely than he'd planned.

"...Hey, calm down."

"Oath, aren't you leaving soon _enough_?"

"It'll be a while yet before it... has to be permanent," Nate replied quietly. "There'll be some warning."

"Warning is one thing we have plenty of."

"I suppose so."

"...Never mind. We don't need to talk about it now."

"By the time I'd be gone for good you'd probably be too busy to think about me anyway," Nathan tried halfheartedly. 

"Never." Losing Nate would be...losing half of himself. It would hurt worse than his supposed father trying to kill him. But...he couldn't think about that right now. "I can't be _that_ busy. Ever."

"...Probably right. And I'll probably keep wondering what kind of trouble they're getting you into without me."

"And I'll be wondering what kind of trouble you're getting into all by yourself without me."

"You know, I'm the one who's supposed to get YOU into trouble...."

"I thought that was my job."

"Well, you got it mixed up."

Stryfe smiled faintly. "My apologies. But I have no doubt you'll be getting into all sorts of trouble without me."

"No doubt. I'm talented that way."

"...But I won't be there to get you OUT of it."

"...I'll survive. I'll do my best, anyway."

"And the Chosen One's best," Aliya interjected firmly, "is the best any of us can hope for. I have no doubts you will succeed."

"You may wind up with more assistance than you expect," Hope observed. "I think at least to some degree you have managed to bring the Askani around to thinking this is a good idea, rather than simply something in which they indulge you."

~I'm not sure I _want_ that much Askani assistance!~ "At first, at least. Before the timelines get too unstable. I'm glad you all don't think I'm crazy."

"Hey, I didn't say _that_...."

"Thanks a lot."

"Your new ally might make things interesting, of course, but there would be advantages to having a comparatively nearby timeline where we didn't have to fight him."

"A novel experience," Stryfe muttered.

Aliya slipped her arm around his waist. "But potentially useful."

He leaned against her slightly. "I wasn't arguing that."

"I didn't think you were."

"All right, all right." Nate grinned. "So I'm crazy, but a useful crazy. I guess I have to deal with that."

"I like it," Stryfe muttered.

"What, they think you're crazy too?" Nathan asked with a grin.

"Probably. Though I don't ask too often."

"Wise decision," Aliya murmured.

"Hmph."

She patted his knee reassuringly. "I still love you."

"Well, I'd _hope_ so....!"

"That's why she's bonding with you, you know," Nate said solemnly, then grinned and patted his brother on the back. "Congratulations, little brother. ...And now I'd better get back to work." He eyed the machinery piled around them with distaste. "A lot to do. And not much time to do it in."

"What are you trying to build _now_?"

"We don't know."

"So why is it so urgent?"

Aliya patted Stryfe's knee again. "As much as I enjoy seeing you two spar, we DO have a meeting shortly."

"And there I'd been hoping to spend the rest of the day in the Jungle of Spare Parts."

Nate grinned and tapped his temple. "I'll share."

"Frightening thought -- unfortunately, I'll probably have to pay attention."

"So multitask."

"I'm not as talented as you, big brother." Stryfe stood up reluctantly and offered his hand to help Aliya rise. "I'll see you at dinner. If we're lucky."

Nate extricated himself and stepped over a small jumble to hug his twin. "I'll see you at dinner. If they keep you _that_ late I'll save you something."

"I'd appreciate it." Stryfe hugged him back. "Try not to put together anything that will blow up the Cloisters, all right?"

"We'll do our best."

"And start thinking about the bonding ceremony," Aliya said with a grin to her sister as Stryfe draped his arm around her shoulders and they departed.

*****

"I think the Askani measure time differently," Nate muttered, resealing his bag after he finished rechecking the contents.

"How do you mean?" Hope asked, turning from where she was examining the time travel matrix a few feet away.

Nate smiled sourly. "Stryfe's still stuck in a meeting. He said it would be over in 'just a minute', but it was considerably more than a minute ago."

"Ahh. No, that's not an Askani phenomenon -- it's known as Meeting Time. The final scheduled minute of a meeting is almost infinitely extensible."

"So I've discovered." Nate sighed. "Well, I'll just check out these components again. I might have forgotten something. Redd trained me to be thorough."

Hope raised an eyebrow when he turned to a bag of supplies he'd checked twice already, but held her peace.

#Stryfe?# he sent hopefully. #Any progress?# 

Faintly, through the link, he "heard" words in a woman's voice -- _The report from our operative near Hebron states..._ -- before Stryfe's weary thought answered him. #Yes, but apparently not toward actually getting out of here.#

#The TDC's fully charged, and I have everything assembled. I really need to leave soon...# Nate sent helplessly. 

#I'm trying, Nate, really I am.# _...Power structure in New Canaan less than entirely stable. Current factions include..._ #Oath. I'll have to pay attention to this part; I probably know some of them -- can you wait a little longer? I'm trying --#

Nate bit back a sigh and kept his disappointment firmly shielded. #I'll try. I'm re-checking everything I packed as it is.# He cut off the contact, afraid he wouldn't be able to keep his annoyance with the Askani Council in abeyance if he didn't. It seemed those women did nothing but TALK!

...Still. Just because his _own_ mission was rather centered on action at the moment didn't mean that Stryfe's should be as well. He shouldn't transfer his own chafing for activity onto his twin. Power struggles were good, weren't they? Stryfe had mentioned destabilization as a goal; either it was working, or the targets were doing it all by themselves. Somebody had to be doing something. Spies did something, even if it was just watching. He was doing a fair amount of observation himself, when he was in the twentieth century.

Speaking of observation... he carefully eased the link back open far enough to eavesdrop.

_--can probably expect to bear fruit within six months. Shanor is already separating from the other High Lords. We can expect more discord in coming months._

Well. That was interesting. So one of the High Lords was already starting to pull away? Nate knew from Stryfe and Aliya's discussions that this was definitely a good thing. Maybe it wasn't an entirely useless meeting. And maybe that was the most important information, so they could end the meeting soon.

Fifteen minutes later, he had done all the checks _again_ and was reluctantly letting go of that particular hope. 

And speaking of Hope, she had been very patient with his newfound assiduous care, but Nate was aware that she was beginning to tire of humoring him. "I know you want to say g'journey in person, Nathan," the chronophysician said softly, "but your equipment's better off not spending indefinite amounts of time in a state of readiness -- and you _are_ nearing the end of the optimal departure window. You do want the timelines to allow as many trips back and forth as possible."

~So now I get to decide if I want to say goodbye to Stryfe or SEE him more? Grand,~ Nate thought morosely. "I know. I just...want to run one more check." #Stryfe? Little brother, I'm sorry, but I really DO need to leave soon. I really can't delay much longer...# 

#I know.# Stryfe sounded unhappy. #They just keep bringing up one thing after another....#

#Well...it's not as if we really NEED to see each other to say goodbye...# Nate leaned against the link hard. It was always hard, though, going back into the twentieth century knowing that stepping into the TDC meant the same as shutting away half his _self_. It was like wrapping part of his mind in cotton, and he didn't LIKE it. He'd wanted the last chance to...recharge. But it didn't look like he'd get the chance. Not this time.

#There's no time left, is there.# Stryfe's voice only sounded sad and wistful at first -- then Nate was startled by a rush of anger. #Flonq it -- SOME of this could have waited, surely --#

#I don't know,# Nate replied honestly, fighting against the urge to say, "Of COURSE it could have waited!" That would only bring up old arguments, and he wasn't about to waste time with that NOW. #I'll be back before you know it, honestly. I'll have to be back for the bonding ceremony, after all, or Aliya would follow through on her promise to force-feed me my teeth,# he joked weakly. 

#That would be a little hard to swallow.# Stryfe leaned into the link as well, his attention fading dangerously away from the meeting. #G'journey, Nate.#

Nathan wrapped his brother's mind in a fierce hug. #Be well. And--if you ever get a sudden desire to visit the twentieth century...You're always welcome.# His throat felt suddenly tight. He picked up a pack and swung it over his shoulders to disguise the emotion from Hope.

#I know.# 

Their minds clung together along the link until the timeslide left each grasp empty.

_***The End***_


End file.
